Coming into today’s contest at the Yard, Houston starter Dallas Keuchel hadn’t lost since August of 2014. Well, guess what, Astro-Boy,that streak is now over. Keuchel saw two of his pitches fly over the Camden Yard outfield fence this afternoon and each time there was a Bird already on the pond. Caleb Joseph got the home-town holiday fireworks started with a blast in the second inning with Delmon Young on base. That gave the O’s a 2-0 lead. That lead would eventually disappear on a Chris Carter two-run single in the fifth, but that was of no concern to Steve Pearce. Pearce blasted himself and Delmon Young home in the seventh to give the O’s the 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish. Keuchel went eight full to take the L.

Meanwhile, Wei Yin Chen got knocked around for eleven hits in just five innings, but somehow he managed to keep the Houston damage to just three runs. Chen gave way to Brad Brach in the sixth and Brach slammed the door on the Astros. Brach, The Drake, and Zach Britton pitched four hitless and scoreless innings while striking out six combined. Brach got the win (2), and Britton got the save (11). And The Drake? The Drake is good, babes….

After losing two of three to the terrible Marlins, this was a big win versus a smoking team and a legitimate ace.

Other Game Notes

The Birds only notched six hits, thankfully, two of them were worth four runs.